The new era of liberalised drinking began in England and Wales today, with more than 1,000 pubs, clubs and shops seizing the opportunity to sell alcohol around the clock. A survey of 336 licensing authorities suggested that 0.5% of the 190,000 licensed premises have been given the right to operate on a 24-hour basis.

Around a third are pubs, bars and nightclubs, while another third are supermarkets. The rest are off-licences, hotels and private members' clubs. However, an additional sample survey of 30 local authorities, also conducted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, suggests that most establishments have limited ambitions. It shows that 80% of the pubs, bars and nightclubs with extended hours plan to close before 1am.

Separate research conducted shortly before the new law came into effect indicates that at least 60,326 premises can now extend their opening hours. Most are in the south-east of England and 5,000 are in London alone.

The new era began at midnight, when a handful of pubs opened to mark the occasion. Many more will celebrate the move to 21st century drinking tonight as pubs and clubs begin trading for longer. The effect should be more noticeable at the weekend when many of the premises plan to trade into the early hours.

Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "We've been saying for a long time that the result of this change would be a relatively modest increase in overall licensing hours, that 24-hour opening was an urban myth, and certainly 24-hour drinking would be an urban myth. What we're actually seeing is that at last in this country adults are going to be treated like grown-ups."

But the new era also prompted warnings of health problems, mounting bureaucracy and battles to come. Professor Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Royal College of Physicians' alcohol committee, said the government had ignored advice from around the world which demonstrated the impact of longer drinking hours. "We fear that relaxation of licensing laws will lead to more drunkenness, alcohol-related illness and social order problems," he said. "The UK's millennium-old traditions of binge drinking are not suddenly going to change overnight into continental-style moderate consumption." He said the £30bn drinks industry should face a 1% levy to fund research into alcohol misuse.

The political opposition also continued, with Liberal Democrats releasing figures indicating that alcohol-fuelled violence has risen by a fifth in the past two years. Don Foster, Lib Dem MP for Bath, said: "These figures provide further evidence that binge drinking is out of control. The new licensing act will lead to a further increase."

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, said the new arrangements may leave his force "stretched", a view shared by Jan Berry, who chairs the Police Federation. She said most drinkers would act responsibly. "But experience dictates that the behaviour of the minority will result in a large increase in alcohol-related disorder."

Having sought to deal with as many licensing applications as possible, officials will now turn their attention to those premises which have failed to apply for new licences. In London, the police and officers from Westminster council, the country's largest licensing authority, have already been visiting premises reminding the owners that they risk prosecution, but 74 applicable premises remain unlicensed.

Local authority environmental health officers will police the act but they admit that they lack the resources. Andrew Griffiths, acting director of policy for the Chartered Institution of Environmental Health, said: "It is possible that all of the pubs will play the game, but there will be a minority who do not. Police and environmental health officers will be dragged in."

Councils are also complaining about the bureaucracy, which they estimate will cost them £71m over two years.

Explainer: Residents' rights

· Find out how far you are from the pub or club. Some councils are imposing a physical limit on the distance a complainant must live from the pub in question.

· Clearly identify the pub. A complainant will usually be required to specify which establishment is causing the difficulty, an onerous requirement in areas where pubs are in clusters.

· Try to reach agreement with the pub itself. The Local Government Association and Lacors, the body representing licensing officers, yesterday said residents should allow landlords the chance to address the difficulty.

· Contact the local environmental health department and local councillor.

· Be willing to present your views to the council's licensing committee.

· Be ready to continue the fight into an appeal. Different councils may interpret the law in various ways, but in London a district judge recently ruled that residents and third parties such as the police have the right to be separately represented at appeal hearings if they believe the local council will not adequately represent them.